The Nottingham pub community is mourning Jeff Blyth, born into the licensed trade as one of a respected dynasty of landlords.

Jeff, who was 72, died before Christmas after being ill since the late summer. He is survived by his wife Judith and sons Jon and Jason, but also by his reputation as a popular, hard-working, innovative licensee.

At Bunkers Hill in Hockley and later at The Old Moot Hall in nearby Carlton Road, he championed beers from the new generation of micro-breweries that emerged in the 1990s and early 2000s, following the take-over and closure of major regional producers like Home, Shipstone, Mansfield and Hardys & Hansons.

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It is a policy perpetuated by his son Jon, licensee of the King William IV in Eyre Street. In the pub better known as the King Billy, officially-retired Jeff was a frequent helper until his last months: “I can’t be idle,” he told the Post last year. “I've always enjoyed it.”

The Blyth family's pub The Fox, before its conversion into solicitors' offices

Jeff Blyth’s grandmother had run the Magna Charta in Wilford Road, demolished in the 1970s, and The Cremorne in The Meadows, demolished in 2005. Her licence at The Fox in Sneinton, now a law office, was taken over by her son Reg, who had been a sergeant-major in the Royal Marines.

When he raised an eyebrow, his own son once recalled, regulars stopped fooling around — and you never, ever uttered foul language. “He would have no swearing in his pub. Now you hear the F-word all the time, but he got respect,” said Jeff in an interview in 2016.

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Jeff took over The Fox in 1975. Later ventures included Bunkers Hill, in which he showcased beers from emerging micro-breweries, and The Old Moot Hall, which he created in a motorbike shop that had once been a chapel.

The Moot Hall received a national Pub of Excellence award from the Campaign for Real Ale, whose then local chairman described it as “the premier real ale outlet in Nottingham.” A regular said at the time: “It has a better selection of real ales than any other pub in the city centre.”

Jeff Blyth with his son Jon at the King Billy

At the King Billy, Jon Blyth paid tribute to his father: “Until he was ill, every morning he would insist on doing some cellar work, and if there was no work to be done he would find somewhere to put up a shelf."

The secrets of his success? "He knew the area really well and everyone knew him," said Jon. "And he was always a very good host.”

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Jeff and Judith lived in Woodthorpe Drive and his funeral will take place on January 15, two days after what would have been the couple’s golden wedding anniversary. It will be held at Catfoot Lane Crematorium, Lambley, at 9.30am.